Confessions of a never has been.....

Duanington

24.09.2014 ( Wednesday)


AM - 4 very slow miles around Citywest, legs felt quite stiff and lethargic on this one, probably a cumulative effect of the previous day's LSR and the double the day before - its been a while since I've ran doubles during the week.

PM - 4 hilly miles around leafy Killiney, a little more life in the legs for this one which made the run quite enjoyable, running new routes usually does that to me anyway though for some reason.

Total miles for the day: 8

Duanington

26.09.2014

Thursday - late home after work but I ordered a pair of runners last week which arrived to the office, this gave me every reason to get out for a few easy miles at a late enough hour
4 miles easy

Friday
Up early and over to the office for a pre-work run around Citywest.
Tired enough getting going but a very enjoyable run, there are a few nice routes around the business park and Corkagh park is just across the M7 which is nice.

10x strides to get things moving on mile 3

4 miles @ 8:12 min\miles

Duanington

27.09.2014

Another early start this morning, out on empty for 5 easy miles along the coast. I felt quite tired getting out of the bed but knew I had to get it done early or I wouldn't have the chance later in the day\evening.

Beautiful Autumn morning, perfect for running with the cool air and morning sun.

Legs are feeling good, although my left knee stiffens up a little bit when I start to run doubles so I do have to keep an eye on that, an evening off and a good sleep usually sorts it out for me.

Did a decent workout on the chin up bar in the afternoon.

This week has been easy for the most part with just the 1 session so far to allow for the increased miles, tempo run tomorrow to finish off and I'll go back up to 3 sessions next week if the body is still feeling good.

Duanington

28.09.2014

Tempo night tonight to round off a good enough week.

The plan was for 9 miles with [EMAIL="5@tempo"]5@tempo[/EMAIL] pace. I'm trying to switch off from the watch a bit more these days and run by feel.

Got started on some core work before heading out but noticed that my stomach was a little sore from the chinup bar last night so stuck to the press-ups and decided to see what all the fuss about this U2 album is about along the way - I got through 4\5 songs and didn't get offended so I'm not sure why the haters be hatin so much!

Took in 2 easy miles along the coast to warmup, increasing the pace over the 2nd to wake the legs a little then got started.

It took me a while to get into this, was blowing a little over the first 2 miles but really got into it after that and started to enjoy the effort ( a little!) , funnily enough I found the hillier sections ( last 2 miles) more enjoyable than the flat, although I did heel strike a little hard coming back down one of the hills which gave a little sharp jolt in my Achilles, nothing too serious but it does show you how easily these things can happen.

Splits looked like
8.34
8.04
6.37
6.34
6.31
6.38
6.32
8.30
8.24

Glad to finish off a good week with a sold tempo.

9 miles for the day

*Edit - 53 miles for the week

Duanington

29.09.2014


AM - 4 miles @ recovery pace around Citywest, kept this right down to genuine recovery pace and enjoyed every step. Legs felt a little heavy but certainly not sore or stiff. Had hoped to do 5 before work but the traffic was gank heading in so I was short on time

PM - Had to cancel meeting a buddy this evening because of a work call later tonight which gave me a little more time than I had expected so I got home, stuck on the tunes ( found a nice little Annie Mac mix :cool:) and got some core work\weights in before heading out.
Ran over to the East Link bridge and back, again the legs felt a little heavy but I enjoyed the easy pace of the run all the way. - 7 miles @ easy pace ( no watch)

Total for the day: 11

tang1

Duanington wrote: »

found a nice little Annie Mac mix :cool:)

Shes a great Dj, doesn't get enough recognition i think.

Duanington

tang1 wrote: »

Shes a great Dj, doesn't get enough recognition i think.

Agreed Tang! a talented lady indeed

Duanington

30.09.2014

I had planned a 15 mile LSR tonight but with the chaos on the M50, I was manky late getting home from work so juggled things around and went for 12 miles with [EMAIL="6@steady"]6@steady[/EMAIL] - 4 easy- 6 steady - 2 easy

Straight out the door once I got in and headed down the coast and over towards the 3arena to complete the first easy section of this one.
Beautiful evening for running, maybe a bit too much wind but its mild, there's a shower or two in the air and I was not stuck in traffic anymore

Once I got onto the quays in town, I upped the pace and headed back out towards Clontarf\Howth, trying my best not to slip on the greasy footpaths.
My legs felt heavy again today, not sore ( again) but heavy ...I did find that once I moved into the steady pace, I felt a lot better. I basically ignored the watch for the next few miles and just ran at what felt like a steady pace...I love this pace and think I've found my running sweet spot. I'm sure there's a technical term for it but I found myself cruising along at a decent pace, lungs and legs working together without any real difficulty ( except maybe over the last mile).
finished off with a couple of easy miles

Splits worked out as:

8:44
8:23
8:12
8:00
7:23
7:17
7:10
7:05
7:10
7:08
8:16
8:20

Total miles: a very enjoyable 12

Duanington

02.10.2014

Wednesday

6 easy miles around South County Dublin - I don't know this neck of the woods at all so basically ran along a main road for 3 miles, saw a college, ran in around the grounds for a bit, turned around and ran back - all nice and easy ( but damn hilly!)

Thursday

AM - 4 miles easy w\strides before work, around Citywest as always. Nice morning for it..very fresh and almost cold - but lovely for running in. Kept the strides to around 15 seconds or so and found it very difficult to stay balanced at that hour of the morning for some reason!

PM - 4 miles easy , very late and with a belly full of Shepherd's Pie which definitely slowed me down ( maybe not a bad thing). Early night tonight required I think, legs are heavy and I haven't had a proper night's sleep in a few days with work\running\life. Enjoying this plan so far though

Total for the day : 8

Duanington

04.10.2014

Friday

I had scheduled 6 miles with 8x400s for Friday's session but I was short on time so had to make do with 6x400s ( with 200 jogged recovery).

Found an old gravel track in the park I was running in so I decided to use it for the reps after a 2 mile warm up. The track was grand but quite wet and heavy on the legs - I may have been better off running these on the paths around the park.

Anyway, I found these tough enough to get through, not painful but I was certainly blowing hard at the end of each rep, its been 5 or 6 weeks since I last did these 400s and I felt it! I would normally run these around 1:20-1:22 on a tarmac\concrete surface but I didn't match those times on the wet gravel ( and it took me a few reps to figure out why!). Good little workout though, the rain was torrential at times which made it a bit tougher.

1:23
1:24
1:24
1:25
1:24
1:22

Ran a warm-down to bring the total to 5.5 miles

Saturday

I didn't feel like I needed a recovery run but it was on the plan so I took in 4 very easy miles on the coast road tonight - quite chilly out there tonight, legs feeling good
Total miles: [EMAIL="4@9something"]4@9something[/EMAIL]

Duanington

05.10.2014

What a manky night for running! The plan for this evening was to run 10 miles with [EMAIL="2x2@hmp"]2x2@hmp[/EMAIL].

After a little bit of core work I headed off into the wind and rain for a couple of easy miles to warm up. By the time I had the 2 easy miles done and turned back to get started on the first hmp section, the wind had picked up a good bit and the rain had gotten that bit heavier ( or at least seemed to be so!).

Got through the first hmp section fine, kept the pace just shy of normal tempo pace and tried to run by feel, I did have to ease up a bit every now and then between gusts of wind - The wind was a factor at first but I got used to it after a few minutes and just got on with it.
Ran a mile easy then got through the 2nd hmp section over a hilly route which I actually enjoyed. Again, the pace was just shy of tempo and I felt comfortable all the way through

Ran 3 wet, windy, miserable miles to finish

Splits were

8.29
8.17
6.33
6.36
8.09
6.42
6.41
8.17
8.24
8.28

Total for the day : 10

Duanington

06.10.2014

Another recovery day today so home from work, got a light weight session in and headed off for 5 easy miles on the grass at the seafront. ( Reminded myself how good an album Pearl Jam, Ten is for the weighs bit :cool:)

Beautiful, crisp night for running but I was glad it was only 5 miles, my legs are a little jaded from the session\rain\wind last night.

5 miles for the day ( no watch but definitely @ 9 something)

tang1

Thats a tasty 5k time tonight, very well done D.

Duanington

tang1 wrote: »

Thats a tasty 5k time tonight, very well done D.

Cheers Tang - perfect night for it really, enjoyed it from start to finish

Duanington

07.10.2014

6.5 miles (inc Parkwest Night Run 5k)

I had planned to get a 5k race in early enough during my plan for Waterford, really just to give a little bit of focus and a mental break from the day to day training. The Parkwest Night Run provided the perfect opportunity to do just that.
I headed on down to Parkwest early doors to get the number collected and meet the gf who was also running, bumped into a couple of yahoos I know from the area who are running great times at the moment and had a good catchup chat with them before dropping the bag and heading off on a light 1 mile warmup ( with a couple of strides).
It really was a perfect night for fast running, crystal clear, cold, crisp air and no real wind to speak of.
The idea behind tonight was to run fast but stay comfortable for the most part, I wasn't going to chase times or obsess over the watch but wanted a short, fast workout and to finish strong.
After a briefing from the organisers ( who were excellent by the way), I parted ways with my GF and lined up maybe 15 or so from the front ( I'm always unsure where to line up!) and off we went into the darkening night.

I was immediately thrown by the fact that we were travelling so quickly over a slightly uneven surface, the first km was in the business Park and went by a little too quick for my mind but I found myself running in a decent little group which thinned out a little as we left the business park to turn down onto the bank of the canal. I was running just behind a runner from Bray who looked very comfortable and I decided to just stick with him for the next couple of kilometres, I was enjoying the pace, maybe breathing a little heavier than I would have liked but the pace wasn't an issue at all.
The stretch along the canal was an out and back loop, turning at a cone and coming back alongside the rest of the field...a nice stretch but the turn did slow people a little and coming back alongside the rest of the field, I could feel the pace stagnating a little and was in two minds whether to go past the lad from Bray or to stay behind, my mind was made up when I copped on how narrow it was - which was probably a good thing, I was enjoying this run and had settled into a nice tempo.

The return leg on the canal bank was a little shorter than the first as we cut off to the right, up a hill onto a bridge and made our way back into ParkWest, the field had really thinned out at this stage, I had passed a few people and decided to leave my pacer and motor on down the hill on the far side of the bridge, there was only a kilometre to go and while I had intended to simply get a good workout, I knew that the middle section had been a little slower than I had anticipated.
I found myself running alone for a stretch which I found a little disorientating because I wasn't sure when the next turn on the route was + it was dark and my glass ankles HATE footpaths, manholes, potholes and the likes..eventually I spotted a steward up ahead who was motioning for a right turn, I had a quick look at the watch which told me I had just over 400m to go - with that in mind I upped the effort a little.
250 metres to go and no sign of the finish line, I was getting a little worried until I spotted another steward motioning for another sharp right, took the right and the finish line appeared up ahead, I basically kept the pace up and chased down the runner in front ( didn't catch him ), crossing the line in a chip time of 18:32 and an unexpected PB.

Waited around for my GF to finish ( who ran really well actually) and then caught up with my old buddies before I headed off on a 2 mile w\d.

I really enjoyed this one, not a target race at all and I would have been just happy to run in and around 19 minutes. It felt like a good workout on what should be tired legs ( although they don't really feel it at the moment) and I'm pretty sure I left 10\15 seconds out there around the middle section but happy overall.

Race splits:

3:39
3:46
3:47
3:46
3:29

Fair play to the organisers, super friendly and had everyone well drilled beforehand. the route was a little tricky at times because of the lack of light but this was a night run after all!

Total for the day: 6.5

martyboy48

Great running D, great time especially as you reckon you left a bit out there.
I'd be to afraid/nervous to enjoy racing at night

ThebitterLemon

Great run DD, nice confidence booster with a quick last k. Well done

TbL

Duanington

martyboy48 wrote: »

Great running D, great time especially as you reckon you left a bit out there.
I'd be to afraid/nervous to enjoy racing at night

It was my first race at night actually Martyboy and I definitely felt nervous at stages, I have to say though - it was very enjoyable and I'll do the next one when it comes along.

Ososlo

Congrats on the pb D!

Duanington

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Great run DD, nice confidence booster with a quick last k. Well done

TbL

Thank you sir - it was a nice confidence booster alright, a few more required between now and December!

Duanington

Ososlo wrote: »

Congrats on the pb D!

Thanks Ososlo

Tom Joad

Well done that's a cracking run and a nice PB!!

Duanington

Tom Joad wrote: »

Well done that's a cracking run and a nice PB!!

Thanks TJ

yaboya1

Well done on the pb D.
Great running.

p.s. Are you insinuating that everyone from Clondalkin is a 'yahoo'?

Duanington

yaboya1 wrote: »

Well done on the pb D.
Great running.

p.s. Are you insinuating that everyone from Clondalkin is a 'yahoo'?

Ha ha - thanks P , I am saying no such thing....however, these two yahoos are most definitely yahoos

Stazza

Well done on the pb. Keep 'em coming...

Duanington

Stazza wrote: »

Well done on the pb. Keep 'em coming...

Cheers Stazza, that's the plan

Duanington

08.10.2014

Having to juggle things around this week a bit with the race last night so the only option for an LSR this week was tonight.

The plan was for 15 miles all nice and easy.

I managed to squeeze in a but of core\pressup work ( tunes by....RockyIV soundtrack) before heading out along the coast and making my over past the 3Arena, East Link, Sandymount, Booterstown before turning back for home.
Felt tired at the start, great during the middle and tired again at the end!

The electrical storm far out to sea kept things interesting on the way back.

Total miles [EMAIL="15@8:36"]15@8:36[/EMAIL] min\miles

yaboya1

Rocky IV seems appropriate for the marathon imo.
No Easy Way Out?

skeleton_boy

Great time yesterday D. Well done